[ male announcer ] some day, your life will flash before your eyes. ♪ make it worth watching. ♪ the new 2013 lexus ls. an entirely new pursuit. good afternoon. you're watch iing msnbc, the ple for politics. we have our eye on hotspots all over the globe this afternoon with live reports on israel and gaza and violent showdown there. the president is on his way to southeast asia. the scandal of the top generals gets even more complicated as details emerge each hour. and washington trying to e excavate itself from years of bipartisanship. can they do it? all ahead in the next three hours. first, let's bring you up to date on our top political

headlines. it's just getting sensor in the middle east. israel and gaza hit with hundreds of rockets target iingf tf -- tel aviv. and the iron was shot down by the defense system. and gaza was also hit, one hit a cabinet building hitting the prime minister's office and he wasn't inside when it hit. in a briefing aboard air force one, saying the president will be regularly briefed on gaza and israel on a trip through southeast asia. he stopped in israel air force base and a four day trip takes the president through thailand, myanmar and cambodia. for the latest on the developing story, to tel aviv, martin is following the latest

developments. good morning or good afternoon for you. can you tell us the latest what's happening there? >> reporter: a very busy day, began very fer roeshtiously with israel warplanes attacking targets in gaza. 200 separate attacks on palestinian targets. they include in those targets, the prchlime minister's office gaza, flattened. palestinians have been flying rockets into israel and attacking israel's biggest city, tel aviv, shot down by an anti-missile rocket, as you mentioned in the introduction. all eyes focused on the one moment, will israel invade gaza on the ground. the israeli army is ready, called up reservists and now have a total of 75,000 army reserves on call ready to go to gaza, many ready to go and join the regular army. there's more and more talk about

a truce and negotiations going on between hamas and israel via egypt and the united states and talking to president obama, obama talking to the president of egypt, him talking to the leaders of hamas in gaza. and today, the tunisian farm minister was in gaza. the other foreign ministers visiting the strip, too, talking about this one question, can they get hamas and israel to climb down from this high treaty both climbed threatening a major war in this region? can they get them to agree to a truce? this is what's going on this evening and more and more talk about the possibility of a truce taking place, at least a temporary truce by midweek and caused israeli ground invasion. >> israeli's iron dome system is to protect israel from those rockets, what exactly is the iron dome and how effective has

it been? >> the iron dome is a remarkable invention, an israeli anti-rocket system they've been working on for years and came into operation about 2 1/2 years ago. american money helped finance it. it's a system computer operated anti-missile system which identifies the instant a rocket is fired from gaza or anywhere where it's going to land. taking into account all kind of things like trajectory, wind, payload and know almost immediately after it's fired within seconds where it will land. if it will land in a populated center, they fire a rocket to intercept it. in fact, they fire two. each rocket costs $100,000. if it will land in a harmless area, say in the sierra field, the system just lets it land. it's a very effective system israel has invented and clearly prevented a lot of damage this round. >> we'll check in with you again

throughout the program. thanks so much. in addition to the crisis in the middle east in his overseas trip, the president is also navigating the continuing fallout with former cia directors, david pet trayius. the two women at the center of the scandal visited the white house. and jill visited in september and paula broad well attended meetings on afghanistan in the role of an advisor. general pet trayius spoke briefly on the hill while talking about the attack on benghazi. >> very sorry this incident occurred and anything that occurred with respect to his personal situation had nothing to do with the way he handle benghazi. >> joining me now, scott wilson, white house correspondent for the "washington post" and staff writer for the atlantic wire. thanks both for joining me. >> thank you.

>> scott, let's start with you, you covered the president's news conference this week. with all the questions facing him, the first about petipetrae. >> it consumes a lot of the need 83s attention right now and particularly beginning negotiations with the congressional leaders and how to avoid the fiscal cliff cliff and automatic tax hikes that will occur at the end of the year if they don't reach an agreement. i don't know how much day-to-day distraction it causes him. he compartmentlizes things well. he's off to asia now for a five day trip. it is another thing for him to juggle at a time he's thinking about transition to a second term, a second term agenda, the fiscal cliff, and now the crisis in gaza. >> there have been calls by some on the hill including senator john mccain for a select committee to investigate the attack in benghazi. senate majority leader harry

reed rejected that to senators graham and others. i revvs fuse to allow the senat be used as a venue for baseless attacks. did the testimony shut down some of that partisan bickering? >> i think a little bit it did. petraeus said they had taken the references to the terrorist groups who joined in -- took out references to the terrorist groups who participated in the attacks because they're afraid of releasing sensitive information, letting the terrori terrorists know they were being monitored. if you look at the transcript, susan rice said pretty much what the talking points told her to say. she overemphasized maybe the role of the video but in general followed it down the rhine. >> if we can go back to the developing role in this middle east. we learned the president will be getting daily updates while in asia. white house deputy national security advisor ben rhodes

saying the president wants the same thing the israelis want, an end to the rocket attacks and the white house is emphasizing de escalation. in the past the president has been criticized not emphasizing enough support for israel and the question is he doing enough to that end with this situation? >> it's an interesting question. the first thing i thought of when i heard those comments from ben rhodes regular 2006 when then president george w. bush told prime minister of israel when he went into southern lebanon to stop rocket fire he did not want israel to stop that rocket fire until that was over. this had disastrous consequences for u.s. prestige in the world as well as the prime minister of israel who got in a big mess fighting for weeks and high casualties to israel soldiers. enabling israel to do what it wants is not always the best policy. it sounds like the administration very publicly is

supporting israel giving it carte blanche to do what it wants to do in gaza. at the same time, i know they're talking to them behind the scenes ways to get out of this. enlisting the turkish prime minister, who has influence with hamas and from egypt who has influence with hamas to try to get hamas to stop the rockets. they very much so far are stating unequivocal support for israel in its operations and letting it do what it wants to do. >> quickly. the white house said the president has been talking to the turkey prime minister and president of egypt. when it comes to egypt since the leader for the first time, the leader is beholden more to people on the street opposed to years past. how much of a tightrope is the president walking with regards to this situation? >> it's very difficult because it opens it up to attack with republicans that he unleashed-he got rid of -- or allowed sensitive -- or a sympathetic regime to fall and now, there

are radicals who could, you know, influence the regime. >> thank you very much. scott wilson, thanks to you, too, we'll be coming back do you later in the hour. thanks for your time. coming up, why senator marco rubio's attendance at a birthday party in iowa is getting a lot of attention. what happened behind closed doors during david petraeus' testimony on capitol hill hill yesterday? into their work,

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we now have more details about the attack on benghazi

after former general david petraeus met yesterday. and there are concerns he told lawmakers something deficit when he first briefed them back in september. >> his testimony today was that from the start he had told us that this was a terrorist attack, of the terrorist involved from the start. i told him my questions, i had a very deficit recollection of that. >> my recollection is that we thought it was as a result of a protest and that was the beginning? the first thing you hear is maybe what you retain. but he also said that in the group, there were extremists and some al qaeda affiliates. >> right now, i'm joined by congressman james, a congressman on the intelligence committee and select committee. thank you for joining us. >> thank you. >> tell me if you were satisfied

about what you heard. >> the tone of the hearing was very respectful, professional. i was very satisfied with the information that general petraeus imparted to the committee. he was very candid and forthcoming with the questions and answers i always found him to be very credible and forthcoming and the hearing yesterday was no deficit. >> in regart to congressman king's statement he didn't remember him saying it was terrorist attack, what's your recollection of that? >> i was at the first briefing and yesterday's hearing. my recollections were exactly as director petraeus had said it, that these were either terrorists or violent extremists. we only had limited information at the time, but he was very consistent both on the -- i believe it was the 14th, when we were first briefed and

yesterday. i always found him to be very honest and forthcoming. originally, the intelligence suggested that this might have been as a result of a protest that got spun up from there and became a violent attack, but as more intelligence came in, as all sources of intelligence were used, it was clear there was no protest, that this was a more of a -- an attack that erupted and but was more organized. >> now, lawmakers say it appears that ambassador susan rice based her initial report the attack was the result of a protest rather than planned attack on unclassified intelligence reports. did she overemphasize that point since there appeared to be classified information from the start that it indeed was in an attack by a terror group? >> ambassador rice's testimony and her interviews were very consistent with talking points

she was given from the administration. the president himself said that he should take responsibility, and he does, because that's the talking points his administration gave to ambassador rice. so she imparted the information that she had. again, these were limited initial reports, based on limited intelligence. i believe she was doing the very best she cowl at the time. intelligence analysis and collection is in many ways an imprecise science, if you will, art. it takes a lot of time and effort to piece all these things together. things were moving very quickly. i found her testimony to be very consistent with what she knew at the time. >> quickly here, congressman peter king said it appears the original cia talking points did attribute the incident to al qaeda affiliates but the talking points were changed after being vetted and nobody knows who made that change. what can you tell us about that? >> part of it was wanting to not

be too specific in order to not jeopardize any sources or methods of how we got the intelligence, but more specifically, i should say that also they were being inclusive by say iing extremists or terrorists that they weren weren't -- they were being more inclusive. sometimes within the agency, they believe the terms were synonymous. but what perhaps the public heard or what was imparted meant something very deficit. but the bottom line is the in tent was to convey that these were violent extremists or terrorists that were involved in carrying out this attack on benghazi. that's what resulted and obviously unfortunately ambassador stevens death and that of three others. it was a terrible tragedy. i can tell you we are making all

efforts, the united states government is making all efforts to track down those responsible. time is on our side. no stone is left unturned and we will find out who is responsible and brought to justice. >> congressman james landevin. thank you so much. still ahead, tragedy averted at a movie theater showing a new twilight movie, what police say a 20-year-old was planning. congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle called white house negotiations on the fiscal cliff constructive. does that mean we may avoid it? not so fast. msnbc your place for politics. with the spark cash card from capital one, olaf gets great rewards for his small business! pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery.

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the first of what will be many negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff. the two sides need to reach a deal by the end of the year to avoid $600 billion in spending cuts and tax increases set to hit the nation's economy. both sides met friday calling the meeting constructive. after the meeting, house speaker john boehner said a deal was possible if it showed sacrifices on both sides. >> to show our seriousness, we put revenue on the table as long as it's accompanied by significant spending cuts. >> but the two parties still have their differences, mainly what to do about the looming expiration of the bush tax cuts. i'm joint by democratic congressman peter welch. thanks for joining me. >> thank you. >> following friday's meeting, all four leaders seemed very confident a deal will be struck. the question is, do you share their optimism? >> i do feel better now that we're back and the election is behind us. there was a new mood in

washington. before the election, the framework for discussion was all cuts and no revenues. now, the framework has changed. the american people made it very clear that revenues have to be part of a balanced deal. the republican leadership, mr. boehner has indicated he's putting revenues on the table. that makes it possible for us to begin the very difficult discussion about what revenues and how do you get them and what cuts and how do you make them. so we have a lot of work to do. at least the framework is some greater possibility for a positive outcome. >> last time around, republicans insisted that any new increases in revenue must be off-set by a lowering of tax rates. are you encouraged by the gop's apparent new willingness to accept a more balanced approach? >> i'm very much encouraged by it. that is what made it impossible for us to even have discussions at all up until the election results came in. as you know, president obama ran on a very explicit platform of restoring the clinton area tax rates for folks above $250,000.

romney explicitly ran against that. exit polls showed half the folks who voted for romney in fact supported the obama position on taxes. the other thing that's important to keep in mind, we -- our congress actually has made a trillion and a half dollars in cuts. so i think it's important for mr. boehner to acknowledge that a lot of the cutside of this has been done and we really do have to make certain that revenues are a significant part of a balanced approach to a long term stable debt reduction. >> this bipartisan spirit is very deficit than we saw during the debt ceiling deal. what's changed from then to now? >> two things. this is actually from talking to some of my cog leagues in conservative districts. they were hearing the same thing i was hearing. peter, why don't you guys get together and get something done? one message from our voters even conservative and liberal, you guys have to work together and get something done.

the second message that was very clear is revenues do have to be part of the equation. that, as i say, gives us some room for optimism. what's going to be tough is once we are required or act l mr. boehner is required to move beyond general platitudes about revenue on the table and get specific where he has to show the president the money, that's when you will get an enormous amount of backlash in the republican conference. that's the aspect of this makes me some what skeptical about our ability to get a deal before december 31. >> we'll have to wait and see how things shake out. thank you for your time this afternoo afternoon. >> thank you. >> still ahead, one big named gop strategist is using a pretty nasty term to describe mitt romney's run for the white house. we'll tell you who's calling romney's primary quote butt ugly. not our words. the election 10 days old but electricity's already getting endorsements for the next white house run. gentlemen and ladies, start your

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and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later. here's a quick look at some other stories. 49 children killed when a train hits a school bus that was carrying more than 50 children when hit by a speeding train. the security official says the railroad crossing was not closed at the time. egypt's new president is promising a full investigation. at home, two coast guard workers disappeared after an oil rig fire. no oil was spilled from that well and the rig is owned by black elk energy. in missouri, a 20-year-old

man is under arrest accused of planning a mass shooting at a mo movie of the twilight and she was concerned her son was planning a shooting similar to the colorado shooting and the suspect admitted to the plan. now to the war room. believe it or not 2016 rumblings are already under way. no joke. >> after two years of relentless poll analysis, electoral map swiping, undecided voter dial test i testing and being forced to use the word cuyahoga in a sentence, we can finally take a breather, just relax with a nice soothing cup of coamomille breeze and jut let it all -- >> do you think it's too early to talk about 2016? we don't think so. >> sorry. it's true. today, senator marco rubio is

going to iowa where he's attending a birthday fund-raiser for terry branstedt, he says it has nothing to do with running for president in four years but not everybody is buying that. and former communications director for the dnc and republican strategist for the santorum campaign. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having us. >> what's your sense? do you think marco rubio is already looking at 2016? >> my reaction is about stephen colbert's reaction. the body is not even cold and we're talking about 2016 already. wow. marco rubio is clearly a rising st star, if not already a star in the republican party. there's no question we will see a lot of him over the next four years, i suspect at deficit high profile events. he will probably have his pick of the kind of things he wants to do. he's a smart politician. there's no reason to seed the

ground and see what kind of options could be available. >> hogan, mitt romney got a lot of attention recently saying the president won the election because he quote offered quote gifts to targeted voting blocks. rubio was asked about that and appeared to reject those comments saying i would just say to you i don't believe we have millions and millions of people in this country that don't want to work. i'm not saying that's what he said and bobby jindal also rejected that. do republicans sense they have a problem on their hands on makers and takers and could weigh on the party as they head to 2016? >> they have a few problems and starting to address them as you've seen with the comments of marco rubio and again, bobby jindal. a lot of folks are look back on that race and trying to prescribe exactly what happened to mitt romney. the fact of the matter is we didn't touch the changes face of the electorate the past four years, chose to either ignore it or didn't know about it. republicans are taking a gut check.

what do we want to do and who do we want to be? let's put people out there like marco rubio and bobby jindal and see what they have to offer. those are the young folks in the party. we have 30 governorships in republican hands and we will use some of that to build coalitions and build a national network of people who like our ideas and people who can articulate a message that don't come across as offensive. that's what we lacked severely in this past election and what we're trying to develop and see what we have moving forward. >> karen, karl rove said this week the tough republican primary race hurt romney. this is his quote. mitt romney had what i scientifically call a butt ugly primary. i didn't realize butt ugly was a scientific term. primaries are divisive. we all know how ugly it got between obama and clinton in 2008. how thcan they avoid one that doesn't destroy them? >> i think karl rove was pred t

predicting mitt romney would win and we have to take everything he says with a mountain of salt. i don't know his opinion is one we should be listening to. i think it's important to have a tough primary. that's where your candidate gets vetted. the problem we had in the republican primary is that governor romney was trying to play it safe and just survive it rac rather than being willing to put ideas on the table and stand up for those ideas. also this week he complained anything you put out there will just be used to attack you. no. the whole point of a primary is let's have a conversation of ideas. one of the things i thought was really in the end wonderful about the long primary we had on the democratic side in 2007-2008 is that we did have that conversation. so many more democrats got to participate in the selection of our nominee. i think ultimately that actually was a better thing in the general election. >> hogan, i want to read you something from a national review article has a lot of people talking. romney was not a drag on the republican party. the republican party was a drag

on him. what the country does not have is a center right party that explains how to act on conservative impulses to improve the national condition. do you agree with the idea the gop was a drag on romney and republicans need to be more clear how their policies can help the middle class? >> no. we weren't a drag on mitt romney. i think it's pretty obvious when you look at history, 2010, barack obama took it on the chin. republicans came in historic election and he didn't say, you know what, i'm going to not go forward with obama-care now. i think i won't spend money on green industry. he went out there, bucked up, said i will take this message to the people and sold the message. he didn't change his message, just went around and articulated in a much better way than we did. karl rove understands this is a tough process. the bush campaign would know. they accused bush have having an

illegitimate child right here in the state of south carolina. barack obama and hillary clinton went all the way to june. mccain had long since locked up the nomination but obama was still able to come out victorious. these processes of primaries are so good for the party to build a base, build out the candidates, teach them how to think on their feet, answer tough questions. when you go into places like iowa, you're in someone's living room, you can't look to a handler to give you an answer. you have to answer someone's question one-on-one. that's what makes you a better candidate and quite frankly what makes us a better party. these primary processes is what makes us great. let's switch gears a little bit. warn bu warren buffet was asked about 2016. >> what about a female president? >> i hope so. i hope it's hillary clinton. i like what she believes in and extraordinarily able and

energetic in pushing those beliefs. i don't see how you can have anybody better qualified. >> i will ask you to get out your crystal ball. what does your gut tell you? will we see clinton run as president in four years? >> i have a little bit of bias opinion because i did work for secretary clinton quite some time. i honestly don't think she knows what she will do. i think she's genuinely sincere she's exhaust. we have this situation in benghazi and other areas of the world, israel ghazi situation intensifying. she's busy with plenty on her hands. i think she wants to take her time once she leaves the administration and think about it. one point i make people forget, we all love her now. in the context of a presidential campaign, all the mud slinging comes back, all the negativity comes back. i think for someone like that she has to ask herself, is that how i want to spend my time or do i want to spend my time

working with a foundation and working on issues i care about. we'll see. >> quickly before we go on the republican side, who do we need to keep an eye out for 2016? >> that's a great question. we have a deep bench with wonderful governors, susanna martinez. bobby jindal. marco rubio. mike huckabee could make a run again. we have a deep bench and we have to let them get out and articulate and see what we have in 2016. no stage is brighter than the presidential race and you have to decide if you want to handle it and once you get there, it's an a long hard process and you have to go through a ton of towns in iowa, and looks like marco rubio is starting off on the right foot. >> we have plenty of time to discuss that. thank you both for your time this afternoon. >> thanks. still ahead, backing away from the fiscal cliff. president obama meets with congressional leaders behind closed doors. could a deal come in just a few

weeks? in our next hour. up next, developing news from the middle east, israel's launch almost 200 air strikes into gaza today alone. we'll take you live to gaza for the latest. now with a fancy coating that gives you a burst of wildberry flavor. now why make a flavored heartburn pill? because this is america. and we don't just make things you want, we make things you didn't even know you wanted. like a spoon fork. spray cheese. and jeans made out of sweatpants. so grab yourself some new prilosec otc wildberry. [ male announcer ] one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. satisfaction guaranteed or your money back. a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested.

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rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. we're following the latest developments on the escalating tensions in the middle east. a short while ago the white house said israel has the right to defend itself. today, israel has responded with nearly 200 air strikes. >> it's important to remember our operation is not offensive in a strategic sense. we're not inds interested in capturing more territory. our goal is to protect our people, our civilians. what can you tell me about the israeli air strikes in gaza. >> reporter: good evening. we know they've been going on throughout the course of the day. earlier today they were

extremely intense. earlier, pre-dawn hours, it struck the prime minister's build i building and destroying it to rubble and compounds they expect some may be living but it was a residential area and we see these are having a deadly effect on the civilian population because of how densely populated gaza is. as we go into night fall, the deadly air attacks have been some of the most intense fierce strikes we have seen and the people of gaza are bracing themselves for that aerial assault. it's eerily quiet behind me, pitch-black and nobody out on the streets and how it's been the past four nights. >> we just heard this is in retaliation to the rocket attack attacks on gaza. what can you tell us about these rockets? how accurate are they in terms of their targets and do you

think their response is effective in terms of what the israelis say the problem is? >> reporter: the israeli narrative of how events unfold but ask palestinians it's deficit. from the perspective of palestinians here, it's a very deficit narrative, a narrative they have suffered at the hands of the israelis who imposed this siege on them. good morning that context, they see -- in that context they see it as a retaliation for those rockets and a series of events highlight that for them. a series of rockets many people point out hundreds have been fired but not lethal and don't carry explosive hazards. they say the proportionate response by the israel military is not to launch these assaults and argue israel is using disproportionate punishment on the people of gaza. >> thank you so much. live from gaza.

as we mentioned egypt is trying to help with the situation in gaza. joining me now is the senior fellow from the middle east policy at the brookins university. >> thank you. i'm also at the university of maryland. >> that's my alma mater. good to know. the crisis in gaza could draw egypt deeper in the conflict. egypt has been at peace since the signing of the camp david accords in 1979. does this crisis have the potential to undermine 39 years of peace? >> they sem pa fiympathize with and blame the mubarak regime for not doing enough. they don't want to be dragged into it. they stand to lose big if there's real escalation and israel goes into gaza. they're in a bind and why

they've activated heavy plo diplomacy, along with the turks to mediate this. in the end, it's a function of what the israelis decide. certainly, they can help negotiate a cease-fire and weigh in on terms of the cease-fire. it's an end of the israelis calculation and on that the u.s. doesn't have much say. frankly, the u.s. doesn't have all that much leverage with issue. in an issue like this, they do what they think is right for them. the u.s. doesn't have the kind of influence it used to have with mubarak in egypt. egypt loses if there's an escalation. you can argue jordan loses because there's more public pressure on the king. the palestinian authority, there will be more pressure and the winners will be hezbollah, supplying missiles to hamas,

iran supplying missiles to hamas. everybody has an interest in a cease-fire and yet there is an escalation that can get out of hand. >> the arab spring led to popular uprisings in many cases changing the leadership in those countries. how do you think the arab spring affected the calculation here and what's taking place with this conflict at this time. >> hugely. think about 2008. there was a major gaza war on larger scale than this one. 1400 palestinians were killed in that three weeks of war. what happened? yes, there was public opinion pressure in the arab world. it really didn't show up in terms of government policies. mubarak, critical of israel was actually coordinating with them because he didn't want to see hamas really succeed. that's true of several other arab leaders.

right now, no one can do that and people weighing in on the arab league sympathize with hamas, don't want to see it lose strategically and won't put pressure on them the way mubarak put pressure on hamas for cease-fire. eeb governme even governments that don't favor hamas, the king of jordan facing uprisings over rising gas prices, he worries the sympathy with the palestinians now could be used to escalate the process against him. he has to sit in the background. you don't hear him much right now. it's a factor and changes equation, changed even the negotiations leverage of a cease-fire. it certainly potentially changed the nature of the fight because of the ability for hamas to get re-supplies. >> all right. from the center for middle east policy and the university of maryland, thank you for joining me this afternoon.

>> my pleasure. coming up, what a notorious moment in history can teach us about political scandals and accusations. our flashback is next. [ woman ] my washer had a foul odor that made the whole room stink. [ woman #2 ] even my laundry started to get a funny smell. [ female announcer ] just three uses of tide washing machine cleaner will help remove odor-causing residues and leave your high-efficiency washer clean and fresh. clean laundry starts with a clean washer. ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance.

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in today's flashback it was this day in 1973, richard nixon spoke before reporters and uttered one of the most infamous lines in american politics. >> let me say this. i will say this to the television audience. i made my mistakes. but in all my years of public life, i have never prof fitted, never prof fitted from public service i earned every cent. in all my years of public life, i have never obstructed justice and i think, too, i could say in my years of public life, that i

welcome this kind of examination, because people have got to know whether or not their president is a crook. well, i'm not a crook. i earned everything i've gotten. >> five months after those comment, the irs forced the president to pay more than $400,000 in back taxes, alleging he had made improper deductions. general david petraeus's testimony seems to have taken some of the heat off another figure in the benghazi investigation, susan rice. the u.n. ambassador has come under fire since her comments to the press right after the benghazi attack. let's welcome you both back to discuss this a little bit more. >> elsbeth, general petraeus said on the hill yesterday susan rice spoke in terms of unclassified talking points given to her while she went on shows like "meet the press." did that take out some of the

sting on susan rice? >> i think so. they played down the terrorist involve document make obama look better to make it look like there hadn't been a terrorist attack. petraeus said they had taken out references to the groups involved so the groups didn't know they were being monitored. >> scott, senator dianne feinstein defended rice and took it one step further defending her possible nomination as secretary of defense. >> to select ambassador rice because she used an unclassified talking point, to say she is unqualified to be secretary of state, i think, is a mistake. >> so, scott, were rice's chances of being nominated just decreased? >> i think so. senator feinstein is using a white house talking point on ambassador rice. this is their point all alooping, any could have read those talking points who was put forward that sunday to give them. scapegoating ambassador rice should not be -- it would be unfair. you heard the president say that

in his press conference this week, that it was besmirching her reputation and he called it outrageous. >> elsbeth, quickly, why has secretary clinton been able to largely stay out of the fray on this? >> she's been traveling abroad during most of the hearings. hillary clinton has been very good staying out of the partisan fray and one reason why she's so popular. she's set to testify when the state department review is done and could draw her back into the partisan fray. >> thank you for coming back and joining me again this afternoon. tracking the violence in the middle east where rockets have been fired for the third day at tel-aviv. we will take a live picture at that city skyline. there it is right now and we will take you there next for the latest developments. plus, soul searching. after the republican party's big loss on election day, i'll talk to one of president obabush's

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good afternoon. you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. as president obama makes an historic trip to asia, more air attacks back and forth between israel and gaza. general petraeus testifies in front of congress on benghazi and makes an apology for his scandalous affair. the fiscal cliff cliffhanger, the white house sayisa saying he sees a deal within a couple weeks. israel continues its punishing air assault on gaza in retaliation for hundreds of hamas rocket attacks on israel. msnbc's martin fletcher is live in tel-aviv now. has night time offered any relief from the rocket attacks? >> reporter: actually, it hasn't. the rocket attacks continue. an israel town was hit about a

half hour ago but the pace has quieted in the central part of israel. all eyes still on this one question whether or not israel will launch a ground invasion into gaza. reserve troops are still being called up, still moving to the units, joining the regular army, poised on them of gaza for the order that they don't know if it will come. meanwhile, there's very strong negotiations going on especially among arab countries with hamas and trying to get hamas to agree to a truce with israel and get israel to agree, too. israel prime minister talking to the american president talking to the egyptian president, who's talking to hamas. a possibility of a truce midweek, which could head off -- would head off an israel invasion in the short term anyway. in 2009 we saw 200 of these rocket attacks into israel. this year alone, there have been 700. do we have any idea why this has increased so much? >> reporter: that's a good

question. everybody is asking it. the key point seems to be the arab spring gave hamas and gaza a certain umbrella when the muslim brotherhood was leader, and morsi became president of egypt and hamas being a muslim brotherhood off shoot, it gave them a certain legislate mass sin the new arab world and to try out the new position vis-a-vis israel. there was a sharp spike of hamas rockets against israel in the last few months. 100 in the five days before israel retaliated. i think that's the key reason, hamas feeling strong vis-a-vis israel and wanting to try it out. >> thank you for that. with all the challenges on the president's doorstep he now also has just weeks to avert tax hikes and across the board spending cuts that would impact millions of americans known as the fiscal cliff. following his trip to asia, the

white house secretary said on a briefing on board air force one talks with congressional leaders would resume after the president's trip and after the thanksgiving holiday. nbc correspondent, mike joins me now. was there the feeling the meeting yesterday was a good starting point to pick up after the holiday? >> reporter: i think so. it didn't evolve into acrimony that might be later. you look at the recent past history of a lot of these end of the year negotiations, there's plenty of reason to be p pessimistic. you look at the scale of what they're trying to accomplish and avert and what's at stake. everybody talking about a good first step, the house speaker john boehner who will be the president's foil. they haven't gotten down to the nitty-gritty. they had two dry runs,

simpson-bowles commission and grand bargain that the president and speaker boehner tried to work out in june and july of 2011. it didn't work out that time and we'll see if it works out this time. if it doesn't, if we go over that cliff, the average or typical family some $2,000 a year for next year 2013, more in taxes, a whole slew of taxes, a whole slew of spending cuts that many folks believe -- many experts believe will send the economy over the edge. jay carney did brief today high over the north atlantic as the president was on his way to southeast asia. here's what he had to say. there are a number of steps i'm sure the president and leaders will consider. i couldn't wadon't want to cate that process will look like because we're not near the finish line. amen to that. what he's referring to, this is the proposal, many people think this is the way it will work out, they will avert the tax

increases betwe increases of middle americans, the $250,000 a year dividing line and the president wants those taxes to go back up. many believe they will find some way around that on a temporary basis 0 on the promise of somewhere in early 2013, there will be a major overhaul of not only the tax code, making it flatter, more basic, simpler and entitlement programs like medicare and social security politically sensitive and a long way to go at this point as the clock ticks. >> a long way to go. thanks for that. have a good afternoon. the headlines today following yesterday's powwow at the white house are all about a new bipartisanship. in the "wall street journal," first talks bring hope of broad budget deal. in the "new york times," the headline reads same hurdles but with a new attitude. joining me now, glen johnson politics editor and christina.

thank you both for joining me. >> thanks. >> jay carney said we're not near the finish line in the fiscal cliff talks but both sides sunsetting optimistic they can reach a deal. why is compromise all of a sudden not a dirty word? >> one reason is you had a presidential election the president was reelected and republicans realize they have to broker some deal and we have no idea what the parameters look like. a lot of that on friday was playing to the cameras and showing a friendly face. no accident the president gave speaker boehner some wine and wanted to make sure the reporters knew he was wishing him a happy birthday, trying to put out a friendly face. what will really happy behind closed doors a handful of negotiates will start talking numbers and both have shown a willingness to adjust their numbers. the only hard line is the president said he wouldn't sign a continuation of a tax cut for the top 2%.

and the congressional leaders at the same time realize they have very big and diverse caucuses and a divided government and a challenge ahead. >> did you say the president gave speaker boehner some wine? i hadn't heard that detail? >> he did. it's his birthday today and gave him italian wine as a gift, not in front of the cameras but told the reporters he was wishing the speaker happy birthday. those moments they allow reporters in 60, 75 seconds the pool is allowed in, they call it a spray. whatever they say there is no accident. whether they decide to take questions shouted at them, that's all very important to put that public face out or to say nothing. >> alcohol certainly is a good way to sweeten the deal. we learned today the next meetings on the fiscal cliff won't happen until after the thanksgiving holiday. at that point we're down to a month and counting. is that enough time? what are the chances of getting a deal done before christmas? >> you heard them talking and christina mentioned it about the

possibility of a two-step maneuver where they try and make sure the taxes do not go up on the middle class on january 1st and resolve this broader issue what's going to happen with the tax increases potentially for people making over $250,000. anything can happen in the amount of time that they have left. nothing productive is going to happen with everybody scattering to the winds for thanksgiving. what was important what happened yesterday, there was not a bitter battle there, a general agreement to try and move forward. you have to remember both the president was re-elected and won that election in a decisive manner, at least in the electoral college and he will only gain strength after the new congress is sworn in come january, so the margin in the senate will go up. the president feels emboldened right now. the republican party is in a bit of disarray after losing the election and these subsequent comments made by mitt romney. there's interest for both sides

to try and get this resolved. i think even though there's only a few weeks until the beginning of the new year, when they come back from thanksgiving, there's plenty of time to get a deal done. >> when we've been hearing a lot of partisan talk is around the benghazi investigation, and general petraeus, now that he's gone to the hill, how does this play out politically? >> think it was probably good for everyone. the republicans had been really pushing this, suggesting the administration soft-pedaled what happened in benghazi, september 11. four americans died there and felt the administration didn't really come clean and feeling it could hurt their election prospects come november. out of that meeting yesterday you heard the general say while the word "terrorist attack" was removed from some cia talking points about it he never felt anything was done for political reasons, still an ongoing

investigation at that time. you heard a subsequent investigation from the white house, the reason any suggestion of terrorist attack by talked was excised from the initial explanation, they were hot on the trail of these people that had done this and didn't want to let them know they were on their trail. >> christina, quickly, can members of the congress and president tap into this newfound bipartisan spirit when it comes to benghazi and the fiscal cliff to try to get answers? >> doesn't seem like it. you have a big feud between senators john mccain and lindsey graham and majority leader harry reid and pretty angry they called for this watergate styled commission to investigate this issue. the white house is pretty frustrated. you saw the president in his press conference go directly after the criticism of susan rice. that doesn't make for friendliness. >> glen johnson and christina, thank you both. we'll come back to you later in the hour. thanks for being with us. don't mourn the death of the

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as we have been reporting, the crisis between israel and hamas is escalating today. israel's iron dome defense system hours ago shot down a tel-aviv missile. scores of bombs hit the center where hamas government buildings were targeted. and hundreds of thousands of troops are amassing at the border and the government authorized the call-up as many as 75,000 reservists. joining me is the ambassador.

thank you for joining me. >> good afternoon. >> what's this trigger for the ground operation? >> we have millions under rocket fire, over half the country. no country in the world, no government would tolerate such a situation where over half its situation is sitting in bomb shelters all night or never going more than 15 seconds run from the nearest bomb shelter because that's all you have. that's the time you have when the alarm gets off before the rocket smashes into your neighborhood. you have the equivalent of what would be 170 million americans under bomb shelters. if hamas continues to escalate, we will take the necessary and legitimate measures to defend our citizens. >> living under the threat of rocket attack is a psychological trauma. what would say to those who say rockets are ineffective and

rarely do damage and the response from israelis is d disproportionate to the threat they're under. >> i would say that to the three israel people killed by one of those rockets, 150 wounded physically and psychologically by this. these rockets paralyze an entire country. there is no school. people cannot go out of their houses, out of their bomb shelters. again, that's an utterly intolerable situation for any country. imagine if one rocket had fallen in the united states and since the year 2009, our last operation, wave had something in the vicinity of 8,000 rockets fall on the state of israel. that's more than twice all of the german rockets that fell on london during world war ii. you saw how the british and americans reacted to that. >> you mentioned the amount of rocket attacks seen in israel, 209 and this year about 700 despite the fact we've been down this road again israel has

responded with military force in the past. does this show israel's policy towards gaza has been a failure? >> our policy, everything can do into gaza, there's no food shortage there, no medical shortage. what you do have there is hamas. certainly no shortage of terrorists there. rather than investing in infrastructure and education they invested in 12,000 rockets, with one purpose only, to kill israeli civilians. we have no option and any other krin the world to have an option but to defend our citizens by all necessary and legitimate means. >> the people of gaza say they've been under constant siege from israeli forces from the air and sea. gaza, as you know, is one of the most densely populated places in the world. how does israel justify force in such a crowded environment? >> actually, it's not the most crowded place in the world. tel-aviv is more densely

populated than gaza is. having said that we are dealing with a densely populated area, that is true. we have conducted more than 1,000 air strikes against rocket base, rocket launching pits, arsenals, command headquarters and we have taken extraordinary, i would even say super human measures to avoid inflicting civilian casualties there. we made tens of thousands of phone calls, dropped leaflets, sent text messages to people, civilians in these areas, warning them to clear out. as a result, we've been able to reducing civilian casualties to a minimum. it's always difficult between civilians are hurt. three-quarters of people hurt in gaza have been armed terrorists. >> thank you for your time this afternoon. we appreciate it. >> thank you. a programming note, we will be talking to former plo spokeswoman diana buttu tomorrow. coming up, nfl legend mike

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fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. after the election loss, many republicans have begun mulling what the party needs to do to get back on track. this week, chairman priebus attributes it to four key factors. dem graphic change is real, 1 in 3 minorities will be voters by 2016 and said they blamed bush rather than obama for the bad economy and thought obama's policies favored the middle class. louisiana governor bobby jindal

also took the party and mitt romney to task for not appealing to a wide enough array of voters. >> we need to stop being the dump party. we need to offer smart conservative intelligent ideas and policies, how we win elections and don't win elections by insulting voters. >> is he right? i'm now joined by the former deputy assistant to president george w. bush. thanks for joining me. >> thanks. >> what does the gop have to do to connect with voters moving forward. >> i have to say governor jindal really had it right. there are dem graphic changes in the country and have seen these coming a long time now. it wasn't too long ago, 2004 when president george w. bush had much stronger numbers among african-americans, asian-americans, hispanics and others. we don't have to look too many years in our past to see the type of coalition we have to pull together in order to win. it's important with all this soul searching my party is going

through and it should go through, that we remember the popular vote was very close and obama didn't get some kind of big decisive victory like previous presidents like ronald reagan did. >> when you talk about pulling that coalition together, how do you do that? in this election, the republicans lost every group of color, african-americans, they lost asian-americans, they lost hispanic americans. yes, you need to bring that coalition together but the question is how do you do it? >> politics is a game of inches. you try to improve with every conceivable subset across the country in these communities. they way you do it is a lot like in your personal life. you're making riche ing relatio friendships and talk to them to see what they think are the policies to make this country better. president george w. bush did that well and other republicans inside the party do that extremely well in addition to him. the key is this. our party does not need to

change its beliefs. its beliefs are still very popular across the country. i think the way we've explained what we want to do has really fallen short and that's the easier problem to fix. >> i want to read you something from "politico" this week. "the people have spoken. i think we're going to have to be flexible now, from governor bob mcdonnell when asked if his party would have to be open to taxes on the highest earners. elections do have consequences. is the governor right on that? >> i'm not sure i agree with the governor. we have acknowledge republicans and democrats this government is essentially split, a strong republican majority in the house and strong democratic senate and democratic president with a second term. it is split. does that mean americans have to accept higher tax increases? i don't think that's right.

does that mean there has to be higher revenue that comes into any kind of budget deal. that makes sense and what i think speaker boehner is trying to talk about. what we saw in the last couple of days with speaker boehner and president obama is we have to find a way forward. the economy is at stake, jobs are at stake and both sides realize to make this economy even weaker would be a horrible mistake. >> thank you for joining me this afternoon. >> thank you. coming up after the break, we take you back live to tel-aviv on the latest developing situation as they brace themselves for possible ground invasion. what does it take to learn to be a member of congress? freshmen members are literally in class right now and we'll talk to them now. [ man ] ring ring... progresso this reduced sodium soup says it may help lower cholesterol, how does it work?

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here's a quick look at some top stories making news now. could twinkies be saved? the co-owner of the pabst brewing company announced plans to consider buying knit and they plan to close shop and more than 19,000 hostess workers will lose their jobs and people buying it by the bagful afraid they won't get their favorites anymore. the epa shows there's no danger from a chemical fire burn. it shot more than 1500 feet in the air at the plant near dallas. they said they had to let it burn itself out. mike ditka had a minor stroke while playing cards yesterday but he called it no big deal. ditka is 73 years old. is a dangerous and fluid situation in the middle east. israel continues to launch air strikes on palestinians and

militants in gaza in return for attacks on israel. martin is live in tel-aviv in israel. what's the latest there on the ground? >> the fighting is continuing. palestinians have been sending rockets into israel. one fell in the southern town about an hour ago and israeli air raised are continuing against targets in gaza. there are fewer raised than before. this day began very ferociously. israel at 200 separate attacks by israel warplanes this morning against targets in gaza. also, in addition to the weapons facilities and the rockets store piles, they started attacking what they called hamas symbols of powers. flattened the prime minister's office in gaza and the police headquarters and left it in a huge blaze of fire, all this in

retaliation, escalation going on yesterday, the palestinians fired their first rocket at jerusalem, israel's capital. there has been a serious escalation in the last 24 hours. all eyes, because of that, are focused on israel's army poised on the edge of gaza for a ground invasion. israel has given the okay to call up to 75,000 reserve soldiers to join the regular army already building up in the south. the major question, will israel launch a ground invasion of gaza. to stop this, that has engendered a great sense of urgency and negotiations to reach a truce between hamas and israel. arab states have been negotiating very actively tonight in cairo, trying to get hamas an israel to agree to a truce to head off a ground invasion. israel is officially denying there are any kind of truce negotiations going on. we have to wait and see how this

plays out, what will come first, a ground invasion or a truce. >> martin, you mentioned the rocket launch towards jerusalem. we've also seen for the first time in decades, rockets launched towards tel-aviv. what is this mood in tel-aviv? how are people reacting to these attacks? >> reporter: tel-aviv was always called the bubble because it has a laid back party town separated intellectually from many of the problems the country is facing. the town got a wake-up call when it was attacked by rockets in three days running now tel-aviv has been attacked. all those rockets fell harmless there in sea. the sense of the mood of the people is on the one hand there's a lot of panic, a lot of hysteria, families rushing their children to the bomb shelters, reports of children crying, stores and shops and restaurants only half-empty, the streets much emptier than usual. but tel-aviv, you can't say there's a sense of fear here utt

a sense of reality striking that now tel-aviv is within rocket distance from gaza. that could change the sense of ease and center that tel-avivians face. having said that, there is a sense also if israel does launch a ground invasion most people would be behind that because of these rockets. >> martin fletcher, live in tel-aviv. thank you so much. the 113th congress will boast about 100 new members. one of them is the newly elected democratic congresswoman from arizona. she won a hard fought race in a newly created congressional district. she will be the first openly bisexual member of congress and congresswoman elect, thank you for joining us. thank you for being here. >> it's my pleasure. >> you and other new congress members arrived this week and class picture and two full weeks of orientation and briefings. how hard is it to get up to

speed as a member of congress? >> your first couple of days are like drinking from a fire hose. if you're someone like me who just came off a very hard fought victory, to turn around and start learning about the most complex government system in the world, it's a big task. it's been exciting. i have to say the united states government has done a great job making sure members of congress understand the challenge in front of them and understand the complexities and duty we hold to the american people. >> the debate over immigration policy has been divisive in arizona and you oppose arizona's controversial immigration issues from the get-go. do you think this congress can work together to get immigration reform? >> it's not a matter of can they, a matter when will that happen? congress has to take action on immigration reform. nowhere do we see the need for that than arizona. we're ground zero.

congress has to come together and do this. the question is which members will have the moral courage to come together and find that middle ground and that compromise. i hope this coming congress, the 113th congress will be the one that takes that action. >> the newly elected congress will be one of the most diverse in u.s. history, a range of religions including muslims and other members and lbgt members than ever before. what do you think your class of c colleagues will bring to the table? >> i'm so proud this congress will more reflect the diversity we see across our nation. my hope is the action taken by the members who serve in the 113th congress, regardless who they are or what district they represent will keep in mind it's our duty and job to represent every single member of this country, not just those who may look like us or live in our districts. we need to represent the entire diverse population that makes america the greatest country on earth. >> you have a really remarkable

personal story. you say you grew up poor and were even homeless at one point yet you went on to earn your law degree and doctorate and now happeneded to congress. when did you decide to turn those hardships around and run for public office. >> when i was a kid my parents taught me during the tough times we faced, i was homeless two years as a kid and lived in an old gas station with no running water and no electricity. my parents taught me no matter how tough things were you had to keep your eye focused and do your best. i learned how important it was to have the help of others, who it be church, family members or sometimes government. it was programs like pell grants that helped me get through college. i learned those values early on. it was that hard work and perseverance as well as this idea of helping each other that helped me get to where i am today. i want a congress that creates that same opportunity for every kid in this country. >> congresswoman elect kyrsten,

good luck and don't let those veteran guys haze you, stand your ground. >> there's no hazing. this weekend, those of us who follow politics and those who don't will head to the movie theater to see one of the most famous figures in american politics brought to life. sitting down with the woman behind lincoln, not mary todd but doris goodwin, whose novel was read by steven spielberg and then turned into the movie and the most read reality history. >> abolishing slavery settles the fate for millions now in bondage and unborn millions to come. >> i imagine this man, abraham lincoln from the moment i woke up to went to bed for 10 years. suddenly, he's walking and talking, back on the screen and in my life again. it's an extraordinary experience to see him become abraham lincoln. >> you make the character. you live with this person. seldom do you get to see such a

striking depiction rise from your work. >> the most amazing thing is both spielberg an daniel day-lewis cared so much about detail they asked me to take daniel to springfield to go through his house with mary, go through the law offices and go to the museum. what he wanted to know about just the right thing, what did he sound like? what was his voice like? >> this acme. is that cure! >> we know from that period of time he had a high pitched voice. it used to go over the big crowds. you had 10,000 people in the douglas debates and douglas had a baritone voice and lincoln's went through the crowd. what did he walk like? we knew from herndon, his partner he walked like a laborer, like he had a burden on his shoulders. most importantly, what about his sense of humor? the one thing i cared object. humor is the way lincoln whistled off sadness. >> people will come, who have not immersed theirselves in

lincoln's story wondering was he that funny an that humorous, was he that way? you're saying to the best of your ability and daniel day-lewis' ability, yes. this the most important thing so many people think of him as an icon and statesman. they don't know what a great politician he was, what the movie is all about. >> the fate of human dignity is in our hands. blood has been spilt to this moment, now, now, now. >> he does everything he can to get this 13th amendment passed at the time he won the election, between the election and the new congress coming in, incredible coincidence of timing obama has the same challenge with the fiscal cliff. you watch him trading, bargaining, strong minding, doing whatever he needs to do. it is an incredibly timely thing to say compromise is a good thing as long as you have convictions and something worthy. he's after the ending of slavery. he has the lincoln phrase. i am the president of the united states. >> i am the president of the

united states of america. clothed in immense power! >> you get me the votes that i need. >> can you imagine if someone spoke that way about the office today? >> no way. >> fascinating history. did mitt romney suggest president obama bought the election? just what did he mean when he said the president won by handing out gifts? but first i'll talk to a prominent filmmaker who group in arab east jerusalem. are israel and gaza headed for a ground war? time for your business, entrepreneurs of the week. they're encouraging shoppers to shop local and created ladies night to boost sales by staying open late. make sure to support your local retailers november 24th for the third annual small business saturday. for more, watch "your business" on msnbc.

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>> we've seen these responses from israel to these rocket attacks. this seems to have an intensity we didn't see in 2008. what's deficit now than in the past? >> deficit that hamas has access to long range missiles they can reach tel-aviv and can reach jerusalem. the scale of the conflict is getting bigger. they feel very strong, seeing what's happening in the region. egypt with the muslim brotherhood, government, sunny sha, jordanian authority are pressed from their own people. syria is a mess. lebanon is a mess and feel bolder and stronger and feel they failed to negotiate anything with negotiations with israel. the winners of this conflict will be netanyahu, holding election in two months and he will be confirmed as prime minister. he's running on this, running on using fear as a strategy, as a tool. he's running on security as a

priority in israel, not social issues, not economy, this is his main issue. hamas is winning as well. there is a debate inside hamas and fight for the leadership between the hamas outside representing their leader outside and hamas inside. and hannyia is winning by using the same tool, fear and conflict. >> those critical of israel's actions in this situation of gaza, a very densely populated area and often lots of civilian casualties. israel say they're using a lot of targeted precision and cite the assassination of the top hamas leader this week in response to that. what's your response to the rocket attacks? >> i'm always very concerned with the my opic way israel is handling this conflict. they've beep using the same method in the last 18 years. the former prime minister that was actually killed after

signing the oslo agreement, soon after, used to say i fight terrorism as there is no negotiatio negotiation and i negotiate with the palestinian as if there's no terrorist attacks. you have double strategy. what we've been seeing from netanyahu is killing the peace process and focusing only on military option that will not guarantee israel's stability, might guarantee it two or three years. we saw it after they went after hamas and gaza. it's been three years and will be back again and again until we understand, israelis and palestinians violence is the byproduct. what you do is solve the main problem. this is a disease. get rid of the disease and not the symptoms. >> how do you do that? there are those that say, this is like cutting grass, you have to cut grass periodically because it continues to grow and you have to continue to deal with the situation. >> you deal with the violence, and the way that you're supposed to deal with the violence but

also you negotiate. you have people to negotiate with. we're not asking israel to negotiate with hamas. there is palestinian authority in the west bank led by those who have been begging israel in the last three years to negotiate with them. they were desperate in the last year and half and have to go to the united nation to ask unilateral policy for state hood. they don't want to recognize them, doesn't want to give them anything. he's discrediting them. the result of this war is the real loser of this wore and palestinian authority and unfortunately the civil society on both sides. only negotiation can solve this problem and only peace process, durable one. >> one thing deficit between now and 2008 we have seen the arab spring and replaced leaders and not authoritarian leaders but beholding to the people on the streets of their country. how does that change the calculations? >> this will change the

calculations, why i don't understand the israel friends and officials because it seems like they're using this strategy over and over, the military one, stretch the muscles without taking into consideration what's going on around them. i'm concerned in the next weeks we will see even another border with hezbollah open up. they have wider range missiles. if hamas has 5, these people have something stronger, 1, 2, 3, missiles that can actually reach everywhere they want with precision. what do you want to do? have an open front there? plus the syrian border is a mess because of what's going on there. jordanians can't broker a deal anymore. he jordanian king is under pressure for what's going on in his country. mubarak is not there anymore. and trying to cut deals on both sides, said it very clear, i stand by the people in gaza.

>> msnbc filmmaker and filmmaker, we appreciate having you on. up next, why mitt romney's recent statement on gifts by president obama to the voters that supported the voters who supported him has turned into the gift that keeps on giving, but for which political party? you're watching msnbc, the place for politics. ♪ i've been coloring liz's hair for years. but lately she's been coming in with less gray than usual. what's she up to? [ female announcer ] root touch-up by nice'n easy has the most shade choices, designed to match even salon color in just 10 minutes. with root touch-up, all they see is you. is now within your grasp with the e-trade 360 investing dashboard. e-trade 360 is the world's first investing homepage that shows you where all your investments are and what they're doing with free streaming quotes, news, analysis and even your trade ticket. everything exactly the way you want it, all on one page.

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well, mitt romney is all by mims. he would be hard-pressed to find any republican politician coming to his rescue after he recently told a bunch of doaners that president obama won the election because he handed out lots of gifts to women and minorities. >> i mean, it's a proven political strategy, which is give a bunch of money from the government to a group and guess what? they'll vote for you. what i would do if i were a democrat running four years from now, i would say you though

what? dental care ought to be included in obama care. >> back with us. boston.com politics glen johnson thanks both for coming back. >> thanks. >> great to be here. >> glenn, i want to start with you. what amazes you more, that mitt romney actually said that the president bought off the electorate, or how quickly republicans have distanced themselves from him? >> you know, i think what was sad in a way for mitt romney was that he was genuinely seen as having given a gracious concession speech, and then he went on this donor call. and he not only lost the good will he had built up in that concession speech, but he also lent credibility to the argument that the 47% comment that he uttered and came out towards the end of the campaign actually wasn't an aberration, but was more of a core belief he has that people are predisposed to support president obama because

they're, you know, nontax paying government aid recipients. and that cost him in the election. and it seems to have cost him in the post election period as well. and it's really no surprise that the republican party has been quick to disavow that kind of commentary because it seemed to play into the election results. and if they want to try to recover from it, they can't be buying into that argument that now their failed candidate is making to donors. >> is there any risk this could cause lasting damage to the republican party, that these comments could real hi hurt the gop moving forward? >> unless they're giving away free dental care. then that could change things. i don't know which part of america really likes healthy teeth or not. of course. that's exactly why you're seeing so many republicans distance themselves from these remarks, because they can read the exit polls just like all of us can. and they can look at the coalitions that the president was able to put together and what that signals about the comment. comments like this just send a message that we want continue to be divided, that it's a certain

group of people against a certain group of people, or one party is for one group of people and the other isn't. that's not really what it's about. a key figure, when you logistic at what people told pollsters when they were leaving the polls on election day, they felt that the president was closer to their values, that he represented more what they stood for. and that's something that mitt romney has not been able to get at. and of course the republicans are distancing themselves from that, because they would like to win future elections. >> all right. we're going to are to leave it there. thanks both for coming back, and thanks for your time this afternoon. >> thank you. good day. >> thank you. we're going to go to a live look at the tel aviv skyline in just a moment, as we continue to follow the developing situation there. that's that live look in tel aviv. we'll look at what the united states should do. i'll talk to a man who has been to the middle east as an adviser to six secretaries of state. and we'll head to the white house for the latest on the general petraeus scandal. what his testimony means for a key member of the obama administration. [ dog 1 ] i am not a vegetarian! yeah, i might have ears like a rabbit...

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